Otterbein University Senate approves new academic calendar

Otterbein University Senate approves new academic calendar

The calendar for the 2020-2021 academic year will be similar to the current calendar.

By Will Day | Published 11/18/2019 9:22pm

The Otterbein University Senate approved the new academic calendar for the 2020-2021 academic year. 

Even though the University Senate had to wait for enough members to have quorum on Wednesday afternoon, the Senate meeting was quick as the only item on the agenda was the approval of the new academic calendar.  

The new agenda mirrors our current model, with the only stipulation being that week 15 of the fall semester will always fall on the week after Thanksgiving break, and spring semester will be anchored to start on the second Monday of January. 

The choice was ultimately the favored of two options presented to the Senate from the planning committee. 

For Professor of Communications Kerry Strayer, the options presented for the academic calendar were simplistic at best and didn’t take into consideration the many aspects of scheduling an entire university. 

Strayer said, “I think in many ways, having only the two options simplified it more than it is. There are issues of should classes be longer, there are issues of how many days a week, how long the day lasts but ultimately I am glad we went with the choice that we did.”  

Many of the other senators, including some student senators, were happy to not have to get used to another change. 

Student Sen. Bronwyn Du Plessis said, “I feel great about it because it’s just like it is now.”